Most Precious Thing
by KuraiArcoiris
Summary: Sawada Tsuna always wanted to adopt a child but he never was able to, but one day an incident occur that change everything...Because Giotto was not something Tsuna expected, nor were the boy's friends. But then Tsuna's famiglia welcomed the unexpected.
1. Thieving

A/N: For those who know me, I am not dead. For those who don't, this story was a collaboration between me and Starred. But Starred has left it in my hands to finish it (though I warn that will not be soon), and so I am posting it on my account now. This chapter was written by me, the next by Starred, and the last by me. I will post all three by the end of the week and leave the story alone until I finish my others (which yes, I am still working on – no promises on when I will finally post anything.) I hope you enjoy what has already been written, at least for now. I hope to get back to it sometime, but it is low priority.

* * *

_Thieving_

Tsuna glared at the pile, hoping it would burst into flames with the intensity of gaze. Unfortunately, the pile continued to sit on the center of his desk mockingly. He would stretch out a hand and burn them to a crisp, but that would only cause the papers to return fourfold, probably wrapped in a bow and thrust in his face at two in the morning if his old guardian heard of the incident. Tsuna scowled. He wondered if he could find anyone brave enough to keep the world's greatest hitman away from the Vongola mansion long enough for Tsuna to burn every last paper in their headquarters. Maybe Tsuna's lightning guardian would be suicidal enough to try, but Tsuna doubted any distraction the fifteen year old could come up with would be effective against Reborn.

Sighing, Tsuna took another paper off the pile and decided for probably the thousandth time that month that he wished he had never met his former caretaker. Reborn had first entered Tsuna's life the way the hitman always did, surrounded by chaos and red. That day, the chaos had not been caused by Reborn. Closing his eyes briefly, the images of his mother collapsing in front of a ten year old version of himself swam into Tsuna's brain, and the same fear that had taken over that ten year old self that instant ghosted over Tsuna before Tsuna countered it with the image of the tall teen in a black suit that had grabbed that same ten year old self by the scruff of the neck and carried the tiny Tsuna out of that garbage. No, Tsuna could never regret that day 12 years ago. Even if it had led to Tsuna sitting behind this evil desk and battling the most wicked of enemies called paperwork.

Strange how recently even thoughts of Tsuna's former "tutor" (as the man liked to be called) reminded Tsuna of his greatest wish. Tsuna paused his inspection of the document (another _famiglia_ that had reconsidered forming an alliance with Vongola after what Tsuna's mist guardians fondly called the "Cake Incident") to force that useless thought back. Reborn would have Tsuna undergo more training if the hitman caught Tsuna with that uselessness in the young mafia don's head. If one could do nothing about an idea, it should be shelved and ignored until one could do something about it. But Tsuna doubted he would ever be able to do anything about his wish. Tsuna had never fallen in love and doubted he ever would after Kyoko. He remembered how terribly his three year crush on his sun guardian's sister had ended, and Tsuna didn't want anyone to suffer her fate. And she had only been a crush. What would happen if Tsuna had someone he truly loved? And not just romantically? Tsuna could never have a family outside his guardians, former caretaker, and _famiglia_, and honestly, they were enough trouble. Tsuna did not need to add a child to the mix.

Dreams of tiny hands reaching towards him, of a tiny face that lit up at his approach, of a young voice calling "Papa," those dreams needed to be pushed back and forgotten. Nothing could come from them. Tsuna had cities to protect. He had sworn to all those important to him that he would do everything possible to keep their loved ones safe from the evil that had once enveloped all of their cities. Even if doing so kept Tsuna from having what he considered most precious.

"Boss," came a timid voice from the door.

"Yes, Lorenzo," said Tsuna, placing the alliance petition down. The dirty blond hair peeked out from behind the door, but Tsuna could see nothing more of his secretary. The young mafia don put on his cape and strode purposefully towards the door. Whatever had Lorenzo hiding behind the door instead of facing his boss head-on had to be bad. Tsuna gently pried the door out of Lorenzo's grasp and revealed skittish hazel eyes. Wonderful. One of Tsuna's guardians had done something. Tsuna vaguely wondered why his secretary never had any trouble telling Tsuna about an enemy _famiglia_ entering their borders, but always quivered in fear when the blonde man had to tell the Vongola boss about the latest guardian antics. Tsuna sighed again. "What did they do this time?"

"It's not them," said Lorenzo in a very quiet voice. "It's the kitchen. The chef found something."

"Something or someone?" said Tsuna, his voice becoming harder as it unconsciously did when one of his _famiglia_ behaved in a way that did not become a Vongola. Lorenzo flinched. The boss had no idea how much like a certain hitman he sounded when he took that tone. Even though the boss claimed that he cared nothing for the "Vongola name" outside of earning a rebuke from his former caretaker and best hitman, everyone else in Vongola knew that the boss hated nothing more than for his fellow _famiglia_ members to act in a way that sullied that name. Not because he particularly cared for the Vongola reputation. No, he hated those actions because they usual included innocents getting hurt. Or more paperwork. Lord help the soul who gave the boss more paperwork. Even the cloud and mist guardians had learned that the wrath of an overworked Vongola boss would not end well for the cause of said wrath.

"S-someone," whispered Lorenzo. Brown eyes flashed orange, and Tsuna silently marched down the hall. No use letting the culprit know his boss was coming. If Reborn had drilled one thing in Tsuna's head (and the sadistic hitman had literally drilled several), it was that sneaking up on someone always gave one an advantage.

"—et was coming to you! I don't stand for thieves in the Vongola's kitchens," yelled the voice of one of the chefs, Venci. Tsuna had suspected that Venci was behind the commotion. The half-French, half-Italian man had an intense pride in working for the great Vongola _famiglia_ (which didn't make sense since the Vongola famiglia was still too young for anyone to be "honored" by serving it in Tsuna's opinion) and a quick temper. Not a good combination, which is why Tsuna had left the man under Martha. She was the Vongola head chef and did not stand for nonsense in her kitchens. Tsuna had hoped that the woman's strict but fair direction would help curb most of the man's more violent episodes. Unfortunately, Martha was off visiting her children today, which meant that Tsuna would have to do it himself. Poor Venci.

"I'm sorry," said a small voice that stopped Tsuna in his tracks. That voice…it could only belong to a child. A very young child, and it sounded like one on the verge of tears. A thump followed, as if something was knocked down. "I'm sorry. I was hungry. The man said it was okay to come here. I'm sorry."

Tsuna could almost imagine a small child (like one he had seen so many years ago when he was but a child himself) cringing on himself and continuing to babble apologies, not knowing anything else he could say. Without another thought, Tsuna burst into the kitchen. The chef lay in a heap on the floor, and blonde child not more than six stood over the crumpled chef with a frying pan in hand. Tsuna stared at the child, and the child stared at Tsuna. Then the child dashed for the door opposite Tsuna. Roughly four seconds later, the child dangled in the air, held up by his collar. A nostalgic smile tugged on Tsuna's lips. Who had ever thought he would carry a child in the same position that he had once been held in? The child started to squirm, and Tsuna turned his attention back to situation.

"Who are you?" asked Tsuna.

"Giotto," said the child, and the instant the word passed his lips, the boy covered his mouth. Another smile, this one of pure amusement, threatened to stretch Tsuna's lips. But Tsuna couldn't let his expression change. This boy, however young, was an intruder. And if Reborn caught Tsuna relaxing around an intruder, Tsuna was assured several months of early morning lessons on what to do with intruders. Early morning as in 1 o'clock in the morning.

"Giotto?" said Tsuna to the wide blue eyes. "What are you doing here?"

The boy kept his hands over his mouth and set his blue eyes in a challenging stare. Tsuna could barely resist the urge to laugh at the sight this Giotto made dangling with such a defiant expression from Tsuna's hand.

"Well then, alright," said Tsuna putting his most serious expression. "Guess if you don't want to talk, I'll have to make you."

The blue eyes widened impossibly wide, and the boy shook his head furiously.

"So you'll tell me what you're doing here then," said Tsuna, using the last of his will not to break out into chuckles. This child reminded Tsuna too much of a much younger Lambo. But then tears formed at the edge of the blue eyes, and guilt pushed away all Tsuna's amusement. Tsuna couldn't stand the child tears. "And why not?"

The boy slowly took the hands from his mouth, but the blue eyes continued to shimmer. "The man said I can't tell you unless you do something first."

"What man? And what do I need to do?"

"I can't tell you," said the boy as a tear trickled down a cheek. But instead of feeling worse with the tear, Tsuna felt his intuition flare. Something wasn't right with this situation. The boy was crying too easily for one that didn't want to talk. And he wasn't shaking. If this Giotto was scared, why wasn't he shaking or shivering? Tsuna knew the signs of fear too well. They coursed through his body every time Reborn and "training" were mentioned in the same sentence.

"You can't tell me," said Tsuna, his voice dropping an octave. "Then you will have to suffer the consequences."

This time, the small body jerked under Tsuna's hand, and the twinge of guilt almost returned, but then the tears disappeared and the defiant expression took over the boy's face again. The blue eyes hardened as if to steel. The child drew himself up, or as much as he could hanging from the dirty white shirt. Tsuna took a closer look at the child's clothes. The shirt clung to the boy's body, too small for him, and dirty, no filthy, with dust and dirt and smeared with other substances that Tsuna doubted he wanted to identify. The pants tightened around the boy's belly even though the boy barely passed as a stick. The pants frayed badly at the hems, as did the shirt. The material threatened to break under Tsuna's fingers. This child had been left alone for a year, maybe more. Or maybe his family was very poor. Probably why the boy had been stealing from the kitchen. Usually, Tsuna would have one of the many sous chefs take the boy to the maids and clean the child up, feed him, give him some money to help his family or send him with some to the nearest orphanage and a paper with the Vongola seal. No one mistreated the orphans under Vongola protection, which were all really. Tsuna simply sent the Vongola seal to remind the orphanage workers who they answered to. Most found the seal as a sign of protection, but some found the seal threatening. Those were the ones that Tsuna most often sent his subordinates to visit. Still, this boy was…different. This Giotto had the spirit of a feral cat. If he had parents, they left him alone, and he had learned to protect himself and…maybe others? Tsuna's hyper intuition could only tell Tsuna so much. However, sending a belligerent thief to an orphanage would not do the Vongola's reputation much good. And Tsuna had to protect it in order to be able to send more orphans there. Plus what the boy said…

"I'll give you one more chance," said Tsuna, focusing his will into his eyes and narrowing them dangerously. He wanted to help this boy, but he couldn't until he understood the situation more fully. "Who is the man?"

The hard blue gaze continued. Tsuna smirked, and the boy trembled and lost a little of the hardness in his eyes as they quivered. The young mafia don had no idea how scary he looked when he smirked.

"Fine then," said Tsuna. The timber of his voice dropped to as low as it could go. The little boy actually shook a little. "Time for the consequences."

Before the child could grow more terrified, Tsuna tossed the little boy up a little in the air and caught him by the middle. Skilled fingers ran up and down the boy's sides, and the child's face contorted into a mixture of shock, confusion, and restraint. Then the child's cheeks bloated, and the small mouth twisted as the child's face turned red. The child clenched his teeth to keep from laughing, and the reddening cheeks and tightening fists worried Tsuna. Most children gave in thirty seconds under Tsuna's quick fingers. A full minute passed, and the child simply thrashed about and refused to even breathe. Finally, Tsuna let the child go, and the child breathed in deep when he landed on the floor. Tsuna bent down to the boy's level and gazed deep into the glassy blue eyes. What child fought so hard to keep from laughing? What child didn't love to laugh?

"Is that what I have to do?" asked Tsuna. "Make you laugh?"

The boy shook his head slightly before stopping himself. The glassy eyes hardened back to steel.

"You wouldn't hurt a child," said the boy. The blue gaze seemed to stare straight through Tsuna, and Tsuna would have been more unnerved if a certain pair of obsidian eyes didn't often look the same. Instead, the gaze intrigued Tsuna. "No matter how much you threaten, you wouldn't strike a child."

"Not if they didn't deserve it," said Tsuna with a small smile. "I have met some that could use a good spanking. I usually send those to my storm guardian."

"Are you going to send me?" asked the boy. Tsuna's smile changed into a frown. The boy's tone was flat, like he didn't care. Like he had suffered things much worse than a spanking.

"No," said Tsuna. "I believe the punishment should fit the crime and the criminal. So I need to know more about what happened here before I decide what the punishment will be."

"And if I don't want to tell you anything?"

"I will wait for Venci to awake and will be forced to take whatever he says as truth," said Tsuna. The words had the expected effect as understanding glinted in the blue eyes. Honestly, Tsuna was impressed. A six year old should not understand such a hint. But the boy understood. Too bad his lips pursed together and whitened. The boy still wouldn't say a word. Tsuna stood, formulating a plan. He couldn't hand this boy over to the interrogators (Hibari and Mukuro did a marvelous job), but Tsuna could hardly let the boy go without finding out what was going on. "Come."

"Are you going to take me to your storm guard?" asked the boy, the slightest quiver in the tone. The quiver wasn't from fear, but from hope. Did the boy want to get away from Tsuna? The fact that the child had said storm guard instead of guardian despite Tsuna having already used the term verified that the boy wasn't an enemy _famiglia_ spy. Probably. Reborn would kill Tsuna himself if the young mafia don underestimated the lengths enemy _famiglia_ would go to get to Tsuna.

"No," said Tsuna. He had no other option. "You're coming with me."

* * *

Giotto didn't like this. The man hadn't said that the other one would be nice. Giotto had seen rich people. They yelled at those that swept floors and cooked. They hated people in their homes that didn't have as much money as they did. They whipped boys who snuck into their kitchens to steal food. That was why Giotto always went into their kitchens alone. He even left G behind, when the blond boy could convince his best friend (or rather trick the redhead) into staying behind with the others. This time, Lampo had started to cry and distracted G long enough for Giotto to go hunt for food. And then that man had appeared, the man with the black fedora.

The man with the black fedora didn't look like a rich person, but he didn't look poor. Giotto had decided to steal from the man's pocket. But the man had caught him. Then instead of yelling for the police, the man inspected Giotto. Giotto had stayed still under the man's gaze, though he really wanted to run away. If he tried to run away, the man might hit Giotto more, because Giotto would show "weakness." Like Fitz had always said. The man with the black fedora had smiled, and Giotto had trembled because the man's smile looked dangerous. Maybe it was what Daemon called a smirk? The man's words repeated in Giotto's head.

"I have a little task for you."

The man hadn't let Giotto say no. The man with the black fedora had said either Giotto did the task or the man would hand Giotto over to the police. Giotto didn't know if he could get away from the police again, so Giotto had gone to do what the man said. Go into the fancy mansion that everybody avoided unless invited and steal some food. Somehow, the man with the black fedora had known that Giotto snuck into kitchens often, but Giotto hadn't gone into this one yet. Children who stole from this one had never come back. Giotto and the others didn't know what happened to those children, but Giotto couldn't disappear. Who would take care of the others then? G couldn't do it all by himself, and Asari could only help once a week thanks to Asari's dad keeping a close eye on the little foreigner. Giotto didn't trust Daemon to give food to anyone but Elena, and Lampo was too little to do more than make G mad. And Alaude was always too busy "arresting" people and keeping dangerous men away from them.

But now Giotto had been caught, and whatever happened to those other children would happen to him too, and G would be really mad and try to get Giotto back and leave Lampo alone with Daemon and Elena, and then Asari wouldn't be let in because Alaude would be mad too and keep everyone out, and maybe Daemon would turn them all into the police like the melon head kept saying he would.

"Giotto," said a quiet, gentle voice. Giotto looked up at the man who held the little boy's hand. Worried brown eyes looked back at Giotto. "Are you okay?"

"Let me go," Giotto said, using what Lampo called his scary voice. The brown eyes widened, and then the man sighed.

"Please tell me your eyes did not just flash orange," the man muttered. "You already look a little like me. Hayato's going to think…"

The man stopped himself and looked around as if scared of something jumping out and hitting him. Giotto stared at the man.

"Who's Hayato?" asked Giotto, the question slipping from his lips. Giotto closed his mouth so hard it hurt. Usually, Giotto never said anything to strangers. Fitz had said that one shouldn't talk a lot to strangers, because then they would use what you said to hurt you. Daemon had talked, and that's how they had ended up losing their home. And Fitz, but that wasn't so bad. It was the house they missed. Still, Giotto didn't talk to strangers. But this brown-eyed stranger felt different. The feeling was so strange that Giotto had even told the man his name before realizing that the man was a stranger. The feeling reminded Giotto of Fitz, only better.

"My storm guardian," said the man, either not seeing or pretending not to see Giotto's frown. That phrase. Had the man decided to take Giotto to be spanked? The man smiled at Giotto, and that feeling came back. "I'm not going to take you to him. I'm going to hide you from him, because I don't need more paperwork, and Hayato's going to blow something up if he sees you."

"Why?" asked Giotto, the feeling opening his mouth again.

"Because he'll jump to conclusions," said the man with another sigh. "We should go back to my office. It shouldn't be too hard to hide there. We'll just stick you behind a pile of paperwork."

Paper? That didn't sound so bad. Why did the man make it sound like it was as bad as Daemon when Elena went to play with Alaude instead of the melon head? The man opened the door to a huge door with pretty designs. G would love to study the door. The redhead liked pretty things, though he didn't like Giotto telling people that. A groan came from the man as he looked at the middle of the room. In front of three windows that were bigger than the door sat a big desk covered with paper. So much paper that Giotto couldn't even see what the desk looked like other than that it was bigger that where he, G, and Lampo slept. The groan was replaced by a growl as the man moved to the other side of the desk, dragging Giotto behind him.

"Stay here," said the man in a hard tone. Giotto immediately stayed beside a huge blue chair (why was everything so big here?) . The man didn't sound angry with Giotto, but the little boy didn't want the man angry with Giotto too. Muttering about evil paperwork and cowardly secretaries, the man opened the bottom door of the red-brown desk (Giotto could see more of it from the back since paper wasn't falling on this side). The man pulled out another pack of papers, but these didn't have words like the others. These papers were blank. Grabbing Giotto's hand again and gently pulling the boy up, the man led Giotto to a small table a little behind and beside the desk. The table was full of other papers with words, but the man handed the blank papers to Giotto and moved the papers with words to the floor. Other worded papers went to the floor and revealed a wood chair a lot smaller than the big blue one. "There. No one will see you if you sit there. You can put those papers on the table while I get some crayons."

Crayons? What were crayons? Opening another drawer on the desk, the man dug through more papers before pulling out a small box. Shutting the drawer hard, the man came back to the table with a wide smile.

"Looks like Lambo didn't find these. He's really too old to use these, and coloring on Hayato's papers is going to end with him in the hospital again. Here you go," said the man, handing Giotto the box and motioning for Giotto to sit down. "Please don't make too much noise. I would like to finish with these before more end up on my desk. Oh, and if you try to leave, I'll have to use the rope I have in the other drawer, so please don't get up from this table without asking me."

The man patted Giotto's head and then went back to the desk, plopping himself down on the chair and attacking the papers. Giotto hadn't thought someone could attack papers, but that's what it looked like the man was doing with that pen. Looking away from the man, Giotto stared instead at the box. He opened it, and seven different color sticks lay at the bottom of the small box. Taking one out, Giotto peeked back at the man attacking the papers. Was Giotto supposed to do the same thing with these sticks? Would that help the man? Giotto shook his head. Why would he want to help the man? The man was rich. He didn't need help.

Giotto put the box down on the table and took out the orange stick. It was round and long and the perfect color orange. Orange had always been Giotto's favorite color. He put the stick to one of the blank papers. Orange appeared on the paper. Giotto blinked and moved the stick around the paper. More orange trailed over the paper. Giotto knew that people used things like pens to write words on paper, but those pens wrote black. But this stick wasn't a pen, and it wasn't black. The man had called it a crayon. Giotto moved the stick, crayon, across the paper, and the paper started becoming the perfect orange. And then he moved the stick in different directions: up, down, around, this way, that way. Soon the whole paper was orange. Giotto put it to the side and started on another one. Soon, he was using the other colors. The colors became scribbles, and the scribbles became shapes. Giotto got to the last paper and decided to use it carefully. He wanted to make something that would make G want to study it.

* * *

Tsuna pushed away from the mostly empty desk. The clock down the hall donged six times, and Tsuna smiled. He finished right on time. In about five to ten minutes, Hayato would storm into Tsuna's office and demand that the mafia don stop for the day. Hayato would have come earlier to check on Tsuna, but Asari had woken up sick today. Hayato hated leaving his adopted son alone with the maids when the little Japanese boy wasn't feeling well (or ever if Hayato would ever be perfectly honest about the child), so the storm guardian had move his work to the storm's quarters for the day to keep an eye on the sick Asari. The situation had suited Tsuna fine since the young mafia don hadn't had to put up with Hayato's constant questioning and the worry that the man would discover Giotto. The thought jerked Tsuna up as he spun to check on the child. Tsuna had accidently gone into what Takeshi called "paperwork zone". Tsuna's own hyper intuition, Takeshi's serious voice, Reborn's presence, or Hayato's shouting were usually the only things that could drag Tsuna out of "paperwork zone" before the paperwork was done. The others had tried various other methods, but none of them worked. Mukuro had once spent a whole day trying to get the boss out of "paperwork zone," but not even a combined Chrome-Mukuro illusion of Hayato shouting full volume had effect Tsuna other than to have him hand them a complaint form. When Tsuna had finally gotten out of "paperwork mode" that day, several piles of new paperwork had become necessary thanks to Mukuro's wanton destruction of Tsuna's office. Mukuro hadn't left his quarters for weeks after the event, and no one had asked why. However Tsuna's "paperwork zone" made sure that Vongola was never behind on paperwork. Actually usually Vongola was ahead on paperwork, since no member of the _famiglia_ dared to be slower than their boss when he had triple the paperwork they did.

"Giotto?" Tsuna called worriedly. He hadn't meant to ignore the child for four straight hours. The boy had to be at the table, since Tsuna's hyper intuition would have warned Tsuna had the child moved. But Tsuna still worried. When Tsuna saw Giotto, he let out a sigh of relief. The boy had his head on the table, his arm stretched in front of him in a way that reminded Tsuna of an exhausted Takeshi who had fallen asleep at the rain guardian's desk. Carefully, Tsuna picked the child up, surprised by how light the boy was. Tsuna's brow furrowed as he felt sharp corners on the boy where rounded ones should be. How many half-starved children would show up in their kitchens before there were significantly less children on their streets? The boy's head rolled from Tsuna's shoulder to the crook of Tsuna's neck, and Tsuna stilled. The tiny head under his chin felt…it felt right.

Giotto was not the first child to stay at Tsuna's office. Asari had been in it a dozen times, and Lambo before that, when the lightning guardian was just a child and needed constant supervision after one of his stunts. Other than those two, several orphans and subordinates' children spent the afternoon at Tsuna's office. Outside Vongola, Tsuna was viewed a compassionate but just boss who became a lion at any threat against his _famiglia_. Inside Vongola, the _famiglia_ members knew Tsuna to be a capable young man who had a hard time saying no and could entertain and watch over any child. So Tsuna's office had become the unofficial daycare for any _famiglia_ member in need of emergency babysitting. Tsuna had picked up several children who fell asleep in his office. But Giotto was the first that Tsuna's arms had so naturally squeezed around. Tsuna didn't want to let this boy go.

Immediately, Tsuna scolded himself and forced himself to think about what would happen if his "tutor" came in and saw the young mafia don acting so idiotically. Tsuna couldn't keep this child. As Vongola boss, Tsuna had to do his job and find the safest and best place for the boy and move on.

The office door slammed open, startling Tsuna and almost knocking him backwards. Tsuna quickly regained his balance and automatically shifted Giotto to a more protected position. A little black haired boy in a white night gown burst into the office and cupped his hands around his mouth.

"Primo! It's time for dinner!" yelled the little boy as loudly as he could.

"I do not sound like that!" growled an equally loud voice.

"Yes, you do, _Chichi_," said Asari, smiling back at the scowling Hayato. "Except you're louder."

"You're confusing me with Lawn Head again," said Hayato, amusement flittering through his green eyes despite the scowl. "You shouldn't mix up your father with your uncle, brat."

"Nuh-uh," said Asari shaking his head. "Uncle Lawn Head would yell 'Extreme' too."

"I thought you were sick, Asari," Tsuna said quickly put an end to the bickering. Otherwise, they might never get to dinner.

"I was," said the little brunette. Tsuna always found it amusing that Asari was Hayato's son when he looked so much more like Tsuna's rain guardian. Tsuna had been surprised when Hayato had come in six months ago and asked for permission to adopt a child. Of all Tsuna's guardians, Tsuna had expected to get that question from Chrome or maybe Takeshi, not Hayato. Hayato was completely dedicated to Tsuna and their work with Vongola. The storm guardian didn't do anything but work except the times when Tsuna and Takeshi would drag the storm guardian out or when Takeshi convinced Hayato that Tsuna needed to rest and the reverse happened.

Seven months before, Asari had somehow snuck into Hayato's quarters, and the boy had refused to move from his spot inside Hayato's closet. For weeks, Hayato had had to take care of the boy, since Hayato didn't let anyone inside his chambers other than Tsuna (and Takeshi on the bomber's good days) and Hayato wasn't going to have the Vongola boss waste time taking care of some kid that wouldn't come out of a closet. Tsuna had let Hayato alone, thinking the storm guardian could benefit from taking care of a small child and not be so against Tsuna letting children inside the boss's office. Tsuna had never expected Hayato to become so attached to the rain guardian look-alike.

"So you're feeling better now?" asked Tsuna.

"Uh huh," said Asari, his head bobbing. "Chichi had Uncle Lawn Head come over and help me get better."

"Good," said Tsuna smiling, happy that Asari was feeling better and that Hayato was letting more people into their chambers. Given Gokudera's pouting frown, the storm guardian hadn't wanted anyone to know about Ryohei's visit. Giotto shifted in Tsuna's arms and brought attention to himself. Tsuna hoped his arms hid enough of Giotto's body to mask the resemblance between Tsuna and the blonde child, because otherwise he might need a new office door or more likely a new office. For a logical, intelligent man, Tsuna's right hand man tended to jump to conclusions whenever possible, and his reactions were entirely too explosive.

The blonde child yawned and opened his sky blue eyes. For a moment, Tsuna was distracted, the sight of the half-awake face taking up Tsuna's complete attention.

"Giotto?" asked a small voice, breaking Tsuna's gaze. Asari stood right in front of Tsuna, staring hard at the blonde in the boss's arms. Suddenly the little brunette's hazel eyes lit up, and a smile beamed on Asari's face. "Giotto! You're here!"

"Asari?" said the blonde, staring at the little brunette.

"Giotto's coming to dinner, right?" asked Asari, looking at Tsuna. Numbly, Tsuna nodded. "Wow, Giotto, you got the best dad."

"What!" said Tsuna and Giotto in unison.

"Primo," Hayato growled, and Tsuna suddenly realized that he had let Giotto shift into full view of the bomber. Bombs peeked out from the storm gardian's suit coat. "What's her name?"

"Her name?" asked Tsuna, backing away slightly.

"The name of the woman who dared take advantage of Primo," said the bomber, his eyes flashing dangerously. Tsuna gulped and backed away further. Several types of dynamites (particularly explosive ones if Tsuna's experience with them was anything to go by) appeared in the silver haired man's hand. Tsuna didn't need his hyper intuition to know that this was not going to end well.


	2. Explosive

A/N: Just in case someone forgets, this chapter was written by _Starred_, though I will admit to making some minor changes to it.

* * *

_Explosive_

As Tsuna predicted, it didn't end well. At all.

He knew that Hayato was protective of Tsuna but thanks to the bomber, the young mafia don had more paper work to do. It was great, really great. Tsuna was still trying to stop Hayato from blowing more things which wasn't working at all. He was still demanding the name if the woman who supposedly took 'advantage' of him.

"Hayato, calm down. No one took advantage of me. This is not my kid," Tsuna said while rubbing his temples. He had a headache from all the explosions. He could just see the piles of paper work on his desk when he went to his office.

Hayato didn't hear any of Tsuna's words and continued to scream that when the storm guardian found the wicked seductress he would make her pay for tainting the Primo. The screaming wouldn't have bothered Tsuna so much if it weren't for the bombs that continued to fly in every direction.

Asari stood next to Tsuna, laughing at how his father was now as loud as his Uncle Lawn Head, while Giotto stared at the sight of the three, wondering why they were acting like there weren't bombs were going off everywhere.

"Enough, Hayato," Tsuna ordered, going into boss mode. This was one of those rare times when he used his boss mode on one of his guardians. He only did it when they destroy things and that would cost him on more paper work.

Hayato quickly stopped but not before cursing under his breath. The bomber didn't want to make his boss angrier. He remembered when he saw his boss truly mad once, and it hadn't been pretty.

Tsuna sighed in relief and noticed that Asari had also stopped laughing and was looking at the young mafia don in curiosity since Asari had never seen Tsuna in boss mode. Giotto sighed in relief that bombs weren't going off anymore.

"Primo, please tell me who took advantage of you." Hayato said while looking at Tsuna pleading.

"No one did. He's not my son," Tsuna said, sighing while wondering why Hayato didn't believe him. Okay, he knew that Giotto looked a lot like him but that wasn't an excuse. Did Tsuna's right hand man really think that Tsuna would do such a thing?

Hayato looked ready to protest but the glare Tsuna sent his way made him shut up.

"Kufufu, what's with all the noise?" Mukuro asked as mist appeared in the middle of the room. The mist quickly disappeared when Mukuro stepped out of it.

Tsuna paled slightly at the sight of Mukuro. His mist guardian had a terrible habit of teasing and torturing people, namely Tsuna. Hayato scowled while putting his hands in his pocket ready to throw one of his more explosive bombs at the pineapple illusionist.

Giotto twitched at Mukuro's entrance and moved closer to Tsuna, obviously uncomfortable with another person appearing out of nowhere. Asari wasn't put off at all and greeted Mukuro with a 'Hi, Uncle Pineapple.' Mukuro flinched at the nickname that his 'nephew' had given him but decided to not say anything.

The mismatched eyes landed on the little form of Giotto almost glued to Tsuna's side.

_'Seems like Tsunayoshi was having fun when we weren't here,'_Mukuro thought in amusement while he smirked.

Tsuna shivered at that smirk. Whenever Mukuro smirked, Tsuna tended not to like what followed.

"Oya oya, Tsunayoshi seems like we've been underestimating you," Mukuro said, enjoying the way Tsuna's face went from shock to horror in a minute.

"W-what! I didn't do anything!" Tsuna exclaimed, keeping an eye on Hayato who was ready to start throwing bombs again.

"Kufufu, that's what everyone says then they get a woman pregnant. I would have expected it from one of us but from you, that's quite surprising." Mukuro said while shaking his head with in disappointment. Tsuna couldn't help but become flustered, undoubtedly giving Mukuro exactly what the illusionist wanted. A 'hiiee' stuck in Tsuna's throat, and the young mafia don thanked God that his other guardians so weren't there. If not this would end in more trouble for him.

Panicking, Tsuna began backing away from his mist guardian. Tsuna knew he was letting his instincts get the better of him, and if Reborn ever saw that Tsuna was breaking the calm and cool demeanor that Reborn's 'training' had drilled into the young mafia don, Tsuna's "tutor" would return from the lovely paid vacation that Tsuna had given (forced on) the hitman. Tsuna shivered in fear, thinking of what would Reborn do if the hitman saw Tsuna being so pathetic and useless. That would mean more training. Tsuna shivered at the thought and cleared his throat, trying not to let his guardians get the better of him.

"Mukuro, I don't know what you're talking about. I haven't spent a night with a woman, if that's what you're insinuating. He's not my son, and I didn't get anyone pregnant."

Mukuro looked at Tsuna again, examining the mafia don to see if he was lying, but Tsuna wasn't.

_'Kufufu, this is getting more interesting. They look alike and if you didn't know any better you would think they are son and father,'_Mukuro thought while smirking. He knew that if the others were to find out they would make a mess and destroy many things. And destruction of property always amused him.

"Kufufu, alright." Mukuro said while he turned towards Giotto.

"What's your name?"

"He's Giotto," Tsuna responded, pulling the boy closer to him. Giotto hadn't said a word since Hayato had started bombing Tsuna's office. Mukuro nodded while he began to walk away but not before saying 'ciao.'

Tsuna looked at Mukuro retreating form in worry. That look on the illusionist's face meant something bad was going to happen. Real bad. And that something would probably include him and Giotto.

_'Why does it always happens to me?'_Tsuna thought, cursing his luck.

"Who was that man?" Giotto whispered to Asari.

"That's Uncle Pineapple!" Asari responded while smiling cheerfully.

"Uncle Pineapple?" Giotto asked in wonder, not believing that someone was named like that.

Tsuna turn his attention back to Giotto, when he heard the boy snicker at Mukuro's nickname.

"Giotto, his name is not Uncle Pineapple. It's Mukuro," Tsuna said, while trying to hide his laughter.

"Oh," Giotto said in realization, sounding a little disappointed.

Hayato had stayed silent through the conversation, staring at Giotto intensely.

"Primo, he looks exactly like you." Hayato said while he scowled, still not believing Tsuna since the resemblance between his precious Primo and that _**kid**_ (as Hayato liked to call him) were too hard to ignore. They looked almost alike except for their hair and eye color.

Tsuna sweatdropped while he rubbed his temples.

"Like I said before. He's not my son," Tsuna said, almost reading his right-hand man thoughts.

Hayato clicked his tongue while looking away.

"Where are we going now?" Giotto asked, grabbing the man's pant leg.

"Going to dinner," Tsuna responded while he took the child back into his arms. Tsuna began walking to dinner while Asari and Hayato followed them, the little boy smiling widely while the older man scowled.

When they got to the dining hall, Tsuna noticed that his guardians hadn't arrived yet. He went to sit at the head of the table and placed Giotto in his lap while trying to hide the boy with the traditional long cape Reborn had forced Tsuna to wear. Hayato sat on his right, and Asari sat next to Hayato and swung his little legs from the high seat.

The first one to come in was Mukuro but Chrome wasn't with him which surprised Tsuna and Hayato since she usually was the one to drag him to dinner. Though she usually went to get Hibari right afterwards, Tsuna usually saw her at least come in with the male illusionist. Mukuro sat on the fourth seat from Tsuna.

"Mukuro, where's Chrome?" Tsuna asked in confusion.

"She was busy doing something, but she'll be coming in a minute. She sent me ahead," He responded while smirking at him. No use making the boss more suspicious. Tsunayoshi's hyper intuition made it hard enough to get things past the boss as it was.

_'Seems like my plan is going to take action when everyone comes here,'_Mukuro thought while his eyes sparkled with mischief.

Tsuna repressed a shiver of fear when he saw the way Mukuro was smirking. This was bad. His intuition was acting up, and it got something to do with Mukuro.

And he found out why when his guardians came in with different expressions.

_'Oh no, Mukuro definitely did something,'_Tsuna thought while he groan, hoping that they didn't see Giotto.


	3. Warmth

A/N: Please remember that I will not update this for a while. I plan to come back to it, but I have stories I need to work on more urgently. Enjoy the chapter!

* * *

_Warmth_

"Good evening," said Tsuna warily. All his guardians stared at him, and only years of training kept Tsuna from squirming.

"Good evening, Tsuna," said Takeshi. The rain guardian grinned, but the strange look twisted the grin into something less genuine. "Did anything interesting happen today?"

"I finished all my paperwork," said Tsuna as casually as possible. "But I probably have some more when I get back."

"Is it true?" asked Lambo. His green eyes were wet around the edges and shone with betrayal. "Tsuna-nii…Did you really them alone?"

"Leave who alone?" asked Tsuna, getting a very bad feeling.

"Maa, I'm sure that Tsuna has a good explanation," said Takeshi. Why did his hazel eyes seem sharper than usual. "Right, Tsuna?"

"I'll bite you to death for committing such indecent acts," said Hibari, with a cold anger that Tsuna had never heard. The cloud guardian usually sounded emotionless. Tsuna glared at Mukuro. Whatever the illusionist had done, he had crossed the line. Mukuro could tease and taunt the other guardians. Tsuna understood the illusionist's sadistic nature and Mukuro's need to try and see how far he could go. But there was far and too far, and no one seriously hurt Tsuna's guardians, emotionally or otherwise. The illusionist grinned, sealing his fate.

"I'm sorry, but I told them everyt—"

"Another word, Mukuro, and I will tell Martha she will have another set of hands in the kitchen," said Tsuna darkly. Mukuro immediately closed his mouth, and his face paled. Tsuna turned to his currently most reasonable guardian. "What did Mukuro tell you, Takeshi?"

"He told us you are a terrible father to the EXTREME!" yelled Ryohei, making everyone on the table wince for different reasons. Tsuna leaned back in his chair before grabbing the child in his lap who nearly slid off. "Is that EXTREMELY him?"

"…it's true," whispered Lambo, tears gathering in the teen's eyes. The others commenting on the now visible blonde boy, but Tsuna only saw his lightening guardian's hurt gaze. The same gaze that a much younger Lambo had sent towards a burly Bovino who had refused to take the five year old back. Tsuna's blood boiled and fueled his unlit but burning Will.

"Mukuro," said Tsuna. "Tell them the truth."

"I did," said Mukuro smoothly, apparently not seeing the state his boss had entered. "I told them how you had a passionate night with that woman and then proceeded to leave her without any way to contact you. So when she found out that she was pregnant, she couldn't find you. And you never even had the heart to check on her, too ashamed by your lapse of judgment, and so she had to raise the child by herself. But 5 years later, she died, leaving your child on the street with nothing but a name for a father. He has had to scrounge for food on the streets like a common urchin until he was found half-starved by a maid in the alley who recognized the resemblance and took him to your office. She forced you to see the truth and acknowledge your mistake, and she gave you no choice but to take in the boy and raise him as your own like you should have done from the start."

Silence fell on the table as Mukuro continued to smirk and Tsuna stared unbelievingly at him. Before the mafia don could say a word, Hayato slammed his hands on the table.

"How dare you! Primo would never behave in such an indecent manner," said Hayato. "It's obvious the woman forced herself on him. Then she dared run off without telling him and deprive him of his child."

"Wow, I didn't know you had such an interesting history," said Asari, smiling at a confused Giotto. "I thought your mom and dad died in the fire. It's a good thing your dad survived."

"He's not my dad!" Giotto yelled.

"He's not?" asked Asari, as the guardians backed up in their chairs. The little blond boy had looked entirely too much like Tsuna in the young don's angry mode. Tsuna rarely entered that mode, but no one, guardian or not, got in his way when he did. "Then who is he?"

"I don't know," said Giotto, his cheeks puffing out and ruining his almost scary imitation. How could the kid do that if he wasn't Tsuna's son? The boy's blue eyes widened as he realized that the guardians were all staring at him. He glared back at them and then sunk deeper into Tsuna's lap to hide from the continual gaze.

"So he's not your son?" asked Takeshi. Tsuna held back a sigh.

"No. Venci found him stealing from the kitchens. I went to stop Venci from attacking the boy when Giotto here knocked Venci out."

"He knocked out Venci?" asked Lambo, backing farther away from the child. So the child was some sort of demon like Reborn then. Most of Lambo was relieved that the boy wasn't Tsuna's son, but Lambo also felt guilty. The teen shouldn't have believed Mukuro's stupid lies. The whole story sounded like something out of Chrome's favorite soap opera, and Tsuna would never do something like that, especially knowing what happened to Lambo.

"Yes," Tsuna said nodding absently. "I was going to give him to Hayato to place in one of the orphanages, but he said a man told him not to speak to me until I completed a task."

"What task?" asked Takeshi.

"I don't know," said Tsuna, as he adjusted position so that Giotto could continue to hide behind the tablecloth but not fall of the man's lap. "He says he can't tell me."

"We should throw him out," said Hayato. "He's probably a spy for an enemy _famiglia_ who have cosmetically changed him to make it easier from him to infiltrate our inner circle and gain our trust."

Tsuna really wished his stormed guardian was joking. But no, Hayato was serious. And the worst part was that the claim was entirely plausible.

"No, he's not," said Asari with an easy going grin. "Giotto lives down with the others. And it was the man with the black fedora who made Giotto come here, right, Giotto?"

The blonde boy nodded numbly, surprise stretching his face.

"The man with the black fedora was the one who sent me to my dad. I was supposed to stay in the closet until _Chichi _smiled at me. That took a loooong time, but that's how _Chichi_ became my papa. So that means that Uncle Tsuna's supposed to be your papa. You're really lucky because if I had to have another papa that wasn't _Chichi_, it would be Uncle Tsuna."

Asari's grinning statement confirmed a suspicion Tsuna had only now realized he had. Reborn was behind this. Tsuna's tutor had been hinting for months that, with the relative peace in the mafia world, this was the perfect time for Tsuna to start thinking about Vongola's future. The _famiglia_ was barely 10 years old! Why did they have to start worrying about the next generation?! Tsuna could almost hear Reborn, after a hard smack on Tsuna's head, saying that it is never too soon to plan ahead. But on this one, Tsuna wasn't going to give in to Reborn. If what Asari had said was true, then the hitman had already put Asari in danger by associating the boy with the mafia. Tsuna couldn't undo that damage. Hayato needed Asari as much as Asari needed Hayato.

"The same man with the black fedora," said Mukuro with another smirk. "That means that little Asari here is probably a spy as well. We should throw them both out, just in case."

"Now, now," said Takeshi, "there just kids."

"No, Pineapple Head is right. We should send them the orphanage in Venice," said Lambo, almost managing to not flinch under the illusionist's stare. He wasn't fond of Asari. Ever since the kid came, he had stolen everyone's attention. Hayato didn't yell at Lambo like the man used to. And Tsuna-nii sometimes let Asari stay in the boss's Vongola office when Lambo wasn't allowed in there except for when missions were assigned. It wasn't his fault that the office sometimes exploded when he was in there. And that only happened when he was younger. Lambo shrugged and added, "It's better safe than sorry."

"No one asked for your opinion, cow moron! The brat would never be a spy!" yelled Hayato, his face changing from red to purple.

"How would you know? Did he mention the man with the black fedora before?" asked Lambo.

The bomber and right hand man to the Vongola boss paled, and Lambo's green eyes widened. Before the teen's thoughts could form into words, Hayato stood so fast that his chair fell backwards and bowed so deeply that his forehead hit the table.

"I'm so sorry, Primo," the bomber cried. "He mentioned it, but I had thoroughly checked him out by that point. He has no other _famiglia_ ties, and the encounter was entirely coincidental. We decided that the man with the black fedora was an UMA that had seen the compatibility between me and the brat and decided to send him my way so that we could better the world."

"An UMA?" Tsuna asked stunned, the rest of the question stuck in his throat. Just when Tsuna thought his right hand man couldn't get weirder…Tsuna sighed and smiled. After years of getting to know his storm guardian, Tsuna could almost see the man's reasoning. It would be easier to make the man with the black fedora an UMA than a possible enemy _famiglia_ member once Hayato had fallen in love with the little boy. That unbelievable denial should worry Tsuna, but Tsuna knew from experience that no one slithered his way into Hayato's heart with foul intentions. Many a female had tried. But seriously, the man _with the black fedora_. Tsuna really hoped that his tutor's amazingly awful but effective disguises weren't working through description - if that made any sense. Then again, sense and Vongola didn't exactly mix.

"I've been teaching the brat, so he's getting fairly good at classifying and understanding the types and purposes of UMAs. He won't be so easily manipulated again," said Hayato, lifting his head enough so Tsuna could see the small quirk to the bomber's lips. Maybe Tsuna should worry about Hayato's blind loyalty a little bit. Reminding himself that Hayato rarely gave out that loyalty (Tsuna and Asari were the only two current recipients), Tsuna took a deep breath whose effect was rendered ineffective thanks to Asari's next words.

"Yep. _Chichi_ said that the man with the black fedora is a human-like UMA with the objective of speeding up humanity's progress in order to welcome them into the universal community, so it was okay to listen to him, but that I should tell _Chichi_ if I see the man again in case it's another UMA in disguise next time."

"Exactly, brat," said Hayato, the quirk on his lips morphing into a small smile.

"On second thought," said Lambo with a disturbed look on his face. "We should send them both away so that Octopus Head doesn't corrupt them."

"What did you say?" growled Hayato.

"Lambo," said Tsuna warningly, cutting off Lambo's smart (or rather dumb) response. "I would be careful what you say since you still have fifteen more hours of training with Hayato this week."

The teen wisely shut his mouth.

"Bovino Lambo has a point," said Hibari. "Gokudera Hayato's judgment is obviously allowing his emotions to cloud his judgment. The children could be spies."

"They're not," said Tsuna, automatically straightening. Hibari barely spoke, and when he did, he hated being corrected. Tsuna still had a healthy fear (terror) of his cloud guardian, but Tsuna couldn't allow his cloud guardian to start because if not both Asari and Giotto would end up in a small unmarked room somewhere a thousand miles away to be "interrogated." "They're a part of a plot by Reborn to prepare for the future generation of Vongola. Asari mentioned others, so there is probably one for each of us. A successor to raise and eventually train to take over our positions."

"Correct, Dame Tsuna," said a voice that made Tsuna's already stiff posture rigid. "It's good to see that all that tortu-training paid off."

"Just call it torture," muttered Tsuna. It wasn't like anyone here believed otherwise.

"So do you like the presents I've sent your way," said Reborn, a smirk on his face.

"No," said Tsuna flatly. "They're human beings. You can't decide their fate like that."

"I decided yours," said the hitman as he sat on the chair directly opposite Tsuna. Tsuna held back a huff. He had always hated how his tutor could silence him with one word, though usually the hitman used his guns for that purpose.

"But these children aren't yours," said Tsuna, refusing to back down.

"Because they're yours," said Reborn, putting his feet on the now clear table. Tsuna glanced down at his empty plate and glared across the table. He didn't know how, because the hitman wasn't in the room for long before he spoke. Tsuna's hyper intuition was highly tuned for Reborn and could tell when Reborn was in a room after at most five minutes – Reborn was still the world's greatest hitman after all. But somehow Tsuna's missing food was Reborn's fault. The smirk on the hitman's face was proof. "Don't make me go over there and hit your head to jumpstart it. The culprit's on your lap."

Looking down, Tsuna resisted the urge to pull out a camera. Giotto had stuffed the food in his mouth as was evidenced by the smears of sauce and other ingredients decorating the boy's cheeks. The food and excitement coupled with boredom at the adult's continued conversation had caused the blonde boy to fall asleep. He looked, as the girls would put it, irresistibly adorable.

"So there's one of those for each of us?" asked Takeshi. "It would be fun to have someone to teach baseball to."

"I would show mine the extreme way of boxing," said Ryohei.

"A young mind to mold would be an advantage," said Mukuro. "My plans could use such a…convenience."

"You bring one into my wing and he will be bitten to death," said Hibari, standing up and leaving. He rarely stayed after the meal was finished, and the conversation was beginning to wear on him. Chrome gave him a sad look, but he pretended not to see her.

"But wouldn't it be interesting to have another true carnivore in the house?" asked Reborn. Hibari stopped. "The difference between a carnivore and an herbivore isn't always nature. Nurture can make a huge difference."

"Enough," said Tsuna firmly but not loudly. He didn't want to wake the children. Asari had succumbed to sleep too which would have been unusual if he hadn't been recovering from a bad cold. "They are not staying here."

"But—" started Takeshi.

"I said no," said Tsuna. He stood, not noticing how carefully he cradled Giotto in his arms. "And that answer is final."

"Tsuna-nii is right," said Lambo glaring at the child in his big brother's arms. "They should all go to the orphanage."

"Not Asari," said Tsuna, biting back a sigh. "Asari stays."

"Fine," muttered Lambo, and Tsuna attributed the lack of argument with the earlier threat. If Lambo managed to "rid" the mansion of Asari, the fifteen hours would be Reborn-level torture from Gokudera.

"Aw, that's not fair, boss," said Mukuro, and Tsuna contemplated taking out his gloves and X-burning the illusionist into oblivion. No one would blame Tsuna except for Chrome, and Chrome would forgive Tsuna eventually. "Why does your dear right hand man get to keep his and not us?"

"Because Asari's actually Hayato's son, and I don't trust you with a child," said Tsuna, leveling Mukuro with a glare that said exactly what would happen if the illusionist uttered another word. "Don't forget to go report to Martha in the morning."

Mukuro cringed but didn't protest. He didn't want to prolong his punishment or worse trigger his boss's normally dormant sadistic tendencies. Being raised by the world's most arguably sadistic man had side effects, and Mukuro had long learned (and relearned and relearned and rerelearned) that activating those side effects was a terribly painful idea.

"I have to find a room for the boy until morning," said Tsuna.

"He could stay in your room," said Reborn.

"No," said Tsuna. "He won't."

* * *

It was warm. Giotto had never felt so warm. A lovely rhythm beat in Giotto's ear and echoed through his body. He snuggled into the warmth, and his nose caught a strange musty smell mixed with a faded burnt smell. Giotto didn't mind burnt smells. Burning meant fire. He liked fire, especially in winter when everything was cold. They made things warm and safe, because wild animals never came near fire. And Giotto could use the flames to protect the others from the adults who tried to take their food. This warmth smelled like a friendly fire. Mean fires smelled spicy or sweet. Friendly fires smelt burnt because they were happy to warm you and not look for something else to burn like your hand or your house. Giotto finally realized that the rhythm of the friendly fire matched his own heart's sound. Giotto hadn't known that fires had heartbeats. Maybe they crackled and made too much noise for a person to hear their heart. But this one was a quiet fire, and Giotto liked the ba-bump of its heartbeat.

"Fiora, which of the guest's rooms are available?" crackled the fire, and Giotto frowned. He thought he could hear the fires talking to him sometimes in their crackles, but he'd never heard words so clearly before. But then this was a special friendly fire.

"I'm afraid none of them are ready right now, sir," said a girl's voice. It wasn't Elena's, but maybe a new girl had come to stay with them while Giotto had gone to get food. She probably wouldn't last long, since other kids tended to get scared off by Daemon or Alaude eventually. Sometimes G even shooed a few away. People tended not to be able to put up with them, not even other kids. "We're in the middle of remodeling them."

"Let me guess, Reborn ordered it," crackled the friendly fire. Why did the voice sound familiar? And why didn't Giotto hear any of the others?

"Y-yes," said the new girl. Maybe she was the only one talking because she couldn't sleep. Or maybe she was the only other one who could hear the fire. Or maybe Daemon was playing another prank. The friendly fire let out a sigh, and the fire sounded as if it sighed all the time. Maybe it needed more firewood.

"Back to Hayato then," sizzled the fire. It definitely needed more wood. It's G's turn. G should get it.

"H-he's in his room, sir," said the new girl. Why was she talking about rooms? There weren't any real rooms in the abandoned house. The inside walls were all gone, thanks to several fights between Alaude and Daemon.

"Thank you," crackled the fire. Or was it a fire? It sounded almost like a man. Like the one that was supposed to make Giotto laugh, or try to. Giotto would leave before that happened, because adults weren't funny. He had even lied to the man so that the man wouldn't try to make Giotto laugh by tickling him like the man had earlier. Adults were bossy and mean and didn't waste their time making kids laugh. Except for maybe Asari's papa. Asari's papa had made Asari laugh. But then, it wasn't hard making Asari laugh. Asari smiled and laughed all the time, even when things were hard. Giotto had never heard Asari's laugh so full though. Asari's laugh always sounded a little empty, missing something. But with the man that Asari called his papa, Asari's laugh hadn't been missing anything. And Asari had said the man that was supposed to make Giotto laugh could be Giotto's papa. Giotto didn't need a papa. Giotto needed to be strong for the others. He couldn't have a papa like Asari. Then who would look after the others?

Something suddenly tried to pull him away from the friendly fire, but Giotto grabbed the soft warmth and didn't let go. Because even if Giotto couldn't have a papa, he could have fire. Fires were warm and took care of everybody. And even if this one needed something to burn, Giotto would give it wood and then it would glow brightly and the others would be warmed by it too. And maybe they could learn to hear its heartbeat like Giotto could. The heartbeat fluttered, and Giotto knew it was confused. The fire didn't know why Giotto wasn't letting go. Giotto would tell it, but Daemon would make fun of him again. And then G would get mad and plot revenge for the slight to Giotto, and somehow it would all end with Daemon and Alaude destroying more of the house. So Giotto held onto the fire, making sure to keep the fluttering heartbeat in his ear.

But the something pulled harder, and the warmth wrapped around Giotto's hands and made them let go. The fire made Giotto let go, and the something took him and placed him on something else that was soft but cold. Giotto struggled against both somethings, but he couldn't open his eyes. If he did, it would give the somethings an advantage, because Giotto would stop struggling to get to the friendly fire that was moving away.

"Go," said the something. It was a man. Giotto struggled more. The others! "He'll be fine."

"Giotto wants to go with his papa," said a very familiar voice. Asari. Why was Asari here? Asari hadn't stayed with them since finding his papa. So why was—?

"I'm not his papa," crackled the fire. No, not fire. It was the man that was supposed to make Giotto laugh. Giotto stilled. He had fallen asleep on the table after eating both his and the man's food. And there had never been a fire. "He'll be better off here."

"But Uncle Tsuna would make a great papa," said Asari in what Giotto knew was the closest thing to a whine that the cheerful boy could make.

"No," said the fire—no, man. Giotto squeezed his eyes shut and sunk deeper into the second something that was a bed. "I wouldn't."

Giotto ignored how sad the man sounded, because he wasn't a fire, and Giotto couldn't get close to him.


End file.
